Four Waikato pups are in the running for the NZ Top Dog 2025.
Four fluffy workers from Waikato are in the running to become New Zealand’s Top Dog this year.
The quartet are among the 20 finalists selected from over 300 working dogs that put their best paw forward in Frog Recruitment’s annual competition.
Canine Friends Pet Therapy dog Scout and Waikato District Council education dog Dotti are contenders for the Top Dog with a Job title.
Meanwhile, FTN Motion’s Mac and NZME Waikato’s Baz are vying for the Top Office Dog title.
Dotti, a 6-year-old mixed breed and former Waikato pound pup, is working alongside her mum Zoey Jackson, Waikato District Council’s education and engagement officer.
Together, they visit schools and kindergartens as part of the council’s Dog Smart programme, teaching children how to stay safe around dogs.
“Every school we go to, there is always one kid she’ll help with their fears,” Jackson said.
“There aren’t many education dogs in New Zealand ... it’s a privilege to have.”
Dotti also supports the council’s commitment to Te Tiriti O Waitangi by responding to all commands in te reo Māori.
Dotti’s nomination says she was a “role model for rescue dog success stories” and had come a long way.
“She’s [now] got a really calming nature, is super gentle, and really good at reading people,” Jackson said.
Fellow pawsome Top Dog with a Job contender is a Golden Retriever Scout.
Her owner, Jacqui Fitzgerald, said she was excited for Scout to be a finalist.
Fitzgerald, a retired English teacher and volunteer, and Scout regularly visit schools and a dementia care unit at a Hamilton retirement village.
She said the village was “real end-of-life stuff and people are vulnerable”, but Scout’s presence brought the “outside world in a little”.
“I think Scout gives the residents something else to think about and to happen in their daily life,” she said.
“They love it when she’s here, the residents are happy, and she helps people.
“That’s the most important part.”
Meanwhile, Mac, a mixed-breed living in Hamilton, is the former chief executive of electric motorbike company FTN Motion.
His owner, Lydia Bristow, said Mac has been “part of the brand” since 2020, with their product, the Streetdog electric bike, being named after him.
Mac used to be the CEO but was recently demoted, with Bristow laughingly saying, “It was probably the sleeping in the office” that caused it.
He still sometimes joined in on meetings.
Whenever Mac comes to the office now, he always brought a good vibe and loved a good belly scratch.
“Mac’s a sensitive soul. He’s had his struggles and he’s not perfect, but that’s the story of our business too,” Bristow said.
In his nomination, it also said that despite no longer being CEO, Mac had a permanent presence in the FTN Motion headquarters.
“He has a giant painting of himself hanging up in the workshop for morale. Not many dogs have that.”
Fellow top office dog contender, miniature dachshund Baz, is NZME Waikato’s four-legged therapist, cheerleader and mascot.
Owner and senior media specialist Kath Sumner said it was calming have Baz in the office.
“There’s a lot of laughter [when we are] watching him zoom through the desks and play with people,” she said.
He also “cuddles up and sleeps on you while you’re working”.
His nomination says Baz’ gentle nature and intuitive sense of when someone needs “a little extra love” made him an unofficial wellness officer.
“His signature move? The Waddle of Cankle Wisdom.
“With his short legs and wrinkly ankles, Baz waddles from desk to desk like he’s on a mission to spread joy and check in on his humans.”
Now in its 10th year, the Top Dog competition celebrates the pawsitive impacts of having canines around the workplace and on employees’ mental health.
Winners of all categories will be announced on Thursday, August 28, at 12.30pm, streaming live on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, X and Instagram.
Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.